State offers new portal to renew business licenses

Companies conducting business in Fernley and Tonopah can now renew their business licenses on SilverFlume, Nevada's business portal, around the clock at www.nvsilverflume.gov. This partnership marks the first Nevada city and township to offer these online services to their customers on SilverFlume.

"The last thing a business needs is to be bogged down by paperwork," said Secretary of State Ross Miller. "That's why we created SilverFlume, so companies can complete the required filings online and receive their licenses instantaneously.

SilverFlume's platform is convenient to businesses that use it as a one-stop shop for transactions with various government agencies. With Fernley and Tonopah now onboard, we hope that many other cities will follow suit in response to their customers' needs."

"The Fernley City Clerk's office is pleased to offer this new convenient licensing portal to our business customers," said Fernley City Clerk Kimberly Swanson. "The joint effort between the city and state creates an efficient online renewal process for our hardworking business owners and managers. Being the first city to participate in the program has been exciting. We have worked very hard and look forward to benefiting from the results."

Fernley was the first city to integrate its business licensing process with SilverFlume in July 2013 by automatically receiving Common Business Registration data, which SilverFlume customers provide when they create their profiles. CBR data is basic information that nearly every Nevada governmental agency requires, such as a doing business as /fictitious firm names, industry and business description, physical location addresses, owners list information, and number of employees.

Sharing this information among state and local agencies drastically reduces the amount of redundant paperwork required from businesses. Fernley's business licensing division can select specific CBR information and import it on a scheduled basis appropriate to its needs. Because Fernley's system did not require any software or hardware updates, the cost to import CBR data into Fernley's database was free.

"Fernley is proud to be the first city in Nevada to offer our business owners this online convenience," said Fernley Mayor LeRoy Goodman. "We encourage and support business in Fernley, and this just makes it that much easier for our entrepreneurs."

To date, SilverFlume has processed more than $130 million in cross-agency revenue.

Also accessible through SilverFlume is Nevada's free Digital Operating Agreement software, the first such online product to be offered by a state government. The software demystifies the process of creating a limited-liability company and makes it easy for entrepreneurs and small businesses to create an LLC. A process that might otherwise take days or weeks to complete and require expensive outside expertise can now be completed quickly and easily.